Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

My goal is to have read at least twenty nonfictions books published or written before 1950. The oldest nonficton book I've read is currently Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845).

The others I've read that fit this criteria are:
- Walden: Life in the Woods - Thoreau, Henry (1854)
- Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl - Jacobs, Harriet Ann (1861)
- A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains - Bird, Isabella (1879)
- Coming of Age in Samoa - Mead, Margaret (1928)
- Testament of Youth - Brittain, Vera (1933)
- Out of Africa - Blixen, Karen (as Isak Dinesen) (1937)
- The Horse and Buggy Doctor - Hertzler, Arthur (1938)
-West With the Night - Markham, Beryl (1942)
- The Pianist - Szpilman, Wladyslaw (1946)
- If This is a Man - Levi, Primo (1947)
So I am currently at eleven.
Other readers who would like to join in this challenge or to post 20 nonfictions of this age they have already read are welcome to post to this thread.

A couple I missed:
12- A Room of Ones Own- Woolf, Virginia (1929)
13- This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen - Borowski, Tadeusz (1947)

July '23 update: I read Storm of Steel by Ernst Jünger

Oh, this is a fun, if somewhat arbitrary challenge! Let's see... I'm not going to list all the Plato I've read, because I read him like fiction.

- Sun Tzu: The Art of War (5th Century BCE)
- Aristotle: The Nicomachean Ethics (approx. 340 BCE)
- Machiavelli: The Prince (1513)
- Jonathan Swift: A Modest Proposal (1729)
- Olaudah Equiano: The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (1789)
- Mary Wollstonecraft: A Vindication on the Rights of Woman (1792)
- Thomas de Quincey: Confessions of an English Opium Eater (1821)
- Søren Kierkegaard: Frykt og Bæven (Fear and Trembling) (1843)
- Nellie Bly: Ten Days in a Mad-House (1887)
- George Orwell: Down and Out in Paris and London (1933)
- Virginia Woolf: A Room of Ones Own (1929) and Three Guineas (1938)
- Albert Einstein and Leopold Infeld: The Evolution of Physics (1938)
- Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl (1942 - published 1947)

Currently at 12. Considered including Aristotle's Politics as well, as I have read most of it but possibly not all. I realised I don't remember much of it though, so I'll leave it off the list.

I have several on my TBR for the next few years:
- Thucydides: The History of the Peloponnesian War (412 BCE)
- Helen Keller: The Story of my Life (1902)
- W.E.B. du Bois: The Souls of Black Folk (1903)
- T. E. Lawrence: Seven Pillars of Wisdom (1926)
- Viktor E. Frankl: Man's Search for Meaning (1946)
- Simone de Beauvoir: The Second Sex (1949) I have read part one before, but need to start over again.

That will take me to 18. I'm sure another two will come along. There are a few on your list I would like to get to at some point (Thoreau, Jacobs, Blixen, Levi)

Impressive list Leni- "The Evolution of Physics"- wow, and you have some really old ones. You reminded me that I have read A Room of One's Own and I missed getting that on my list. Another I missed getting on my list is Borowski's This Way for the Gas Ladies and Gentlemen.
The next classic nonfiction I have on my to-read list is Hiroshima Storm of Steel by Junger- I forgot that it's fairly old (1920) .

George, this is a fun challenge, so I'll add my read books and the few I own and hope to read. I have several overlapping with both of you which isn't surprising. I'll add links to books not yet listed. I only need to finish my current book and add one from my tbr to complete 20.

I am currently reading Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain.

Read
The Art of War
The Diary of Lady Murasaki - Murasaki Shikibu 11th century
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass - Frederick Douglass 1845
Civil Disobedience - Henry David Thoreau 1849
12 Years a Slave - Solomon Northup 1853
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Ten Days in a Mad-House
The Story of My Life - Helen Keller 1902
The Souls of Black Folk
A Room of One's Own
Goodbye to All That - Robert Graves 1929
On Being Ill - Virginia Woolf 1930
Out of Africa
Under the Sea Wind - Rachel Carson 1941
West with the Night
Man's Search for Meaning
Citizen 13660 - Mine Okubo 1946
The Diary of a Young Girl

TBR
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman - Mary Wollstonecraft 1792
Walden
The Life of Charles Dickens: The Illustrated Edition - John Forster 1874
War is a Racket - Smedley D. Butler 1935
Testament of Friendship - Vera Brittain 1940
Black Lamb and Grey Falcon - Rebecca West 1941
Mythology - Edith Hamilton 1942
Yes to Life: In Spite of Everything - Viktor E. Frankl 1946

Laurie: Oh, I have read A Vindication of the Rights of Woman so I should add that to my list. Can't believe I forgot that one. I haven't just read it I have taught it!

George: The Evolution of Physics sounds more intimidating than it is. It was written for lay people, and they did a good job of presenting everything. My only difficulty was when they talked about mathematical proofs. I take comfort in Einstein's confession that he was not good enough at maths to actually work out the proofs for his theories, and instead had to pass it on to mathematicians. Although the stuff in the book was maths that Einstein was clearly comfortable with and it was all Greek to me. In fact I'd rather try to spell my way through Greek than puzzle out the maths. I read that one and the Stephen Hawkins one about time back to back. Fascinating stuff, if you ignore the maths. lol

This is a wonderful idea, George, and you have such an interesting bunch already read. I've been feeling a little more like non-fiction lately, so I'll join the challenge too. Thanks!

Read
The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Socialism, Capitalism, Sovietism and Fascism (1928)
10 Days in a Madhouse, Nellie Bly (1887)
Living My Life, Vol. 1, Emma Goldman (1931)
A Room of One's Own, Virginia Woolf (1929)
Dust Tracks on a Road, Zora Neale Hurston (1942)
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Mary Wollstonecraft (1792)
Our Hearts Were Young and Gay: An Unforgettable Comic Chronicle of Innocents Abroad in the 1920s, Cornelia Otis Skinner (1942)
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass (1845)
The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, Gertrude Stein (1933)
The Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands, Mary Seacole (1857)
De Profundis, Oscar Wilde (1897)
Common Sense, Thomas Paine (1776)
The Book of Tea, Kakuzō Okakura (1906)
A Bookshop in Berlin, Françoise Frenkel (1945)
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Ann Jacobs (1861)
The Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank (1947)
Civil Disobedience, Henry David Thoreau (1849)

These were hard to find! I expect we may all be adding more that we think of later, but that puts me at 17, so I need three more for the challenge.

To Read hopefully before too long:
Living My Life, Vol. 2, Emma Goldman (1931)
Out of Africa, Isak Dinesen (1937)
The Road to Wigan Pier, George Orwell (1937)

Every year I am going to read more nonfiction. This year I will do it.

Read
The Art of War by Sun Tzu (5th Century BCE)
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Ann Jacobs (1861)
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass (1845)
Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain (1933)
A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf (1929)
Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen (1937)
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank (1947)
A Bookshop in Berlin by Françoise Frenkel (1945)
West with the Night by Beryl Markham (1942)
Killers of the Dream by Lillian E. Smith(1949)

TBR
Storm of Steel by Ernst Jünger (1920)
Fighting for Life by S. Josephine Baker (1939)
A Voice from the South by Anna Julia Cooper (1882)
The Everglades: River of Grass by Marjory Stoneman Douglas (1947)
More Was Lost: A Memoir by Eleanor Perenyi (1946)
The Farm in the Green Mountains by Alice Herdan-Zuckmayer (1949)
Hiroshima by John Hersey (1946)
The Book of Tea by Kakuzō Okakura (1906)
Ten Days in a Mad-House by Nellie Bly (1887)
Ten Days that Shook the World by John Reed (1919)
Memories: From Moscow to the Black Sea by Teffi (1931)
Diary of a Man in Despair by Friedrich Reck-Malleczewen (1947)

Welcome to this classic nonfiction thread everyone- I am very pleased to have this success for it.

Marilyn, I plan to also read Storm of Steel sometime in the coming months- If you want to read it around the same time we could discuss it a bit. I missed it when I was looking at what older nonfiction I'm going to read next- forgot that it's fairly old. Also want to read Hiroshima this year.

I looked in the Goodreads lists for one of "classic nonfiction" to see what is listed, but I could not find one. There are some nonfiction lists but none specifically for older books that I could find.
So, I decided to start one. It may not show up in a search of the lists for "classic nonfiction" for a while, being brand new, but you can go to https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1... to add your books and vote for those already listed.
Now I have the responsibility of being a listkeeper and removing books that shouldn't be there!
If someone knows of such a list already in existence please let me know so I don't duplicate.

George P. wrote: "Welcome to this classic nonfiction thread everyone- I am very pleased to have this success for it.

Marilyn, I plan to also read Storm of Steel sometime in the coming months- If you want to read it..."

Anytime June or after for Storms of Steel works for me.

The fall of the Roman Empire must have been a popular topic:

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon

The Fall of the Roman Republic by Plutarch

There's the Freya Stark books from her travels:

The Valleys of the Assassins and Other Persian Travels (1934)

A Winter in Arabia (1940)

how the poor die by George Orwell (1946)

Edinburgh: Picturesque Notes by Robert Louis Stevenson (1879)

Hospital Sketches by Louisa May Alcott (1863)

Women and Economics by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1898)

Behind the Scenes: Or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House by Elizabeth Keckley (1868). This gives a unique and interesting perspective on Lincoln's last years and Mrs. Lincoln following her husband's assassination.

I read One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd by Jim Fergus several years ago in which a main character in the book was John Bourke. In reading references used to write the book, the author mentioned actual books by John Bourke so I went right to the source and discovered some of that author's books (which corresponded closely with the fiction book by Jim Fergus).
John Bourke was "a prolific diarist and postbellum author." Work from his diaries was used almost directly in MacKenzie's Last Fight with the Cheyennes. This book, although first published in 1970, contained entries from John Bourke's diaries written in the late 19th century, such as from An Apache Campaign In The Sierra Madre by John G. Bourke. These books are not for the faint of heart but are true accounts of the U.S. Cavalry march against the Indian Nations. It can be read how John Bourke disagreed with the U.S. Army's march on the Indian Nations, but being the dutiful soldier he was, he did as ordered and wrote about the events in his diaries. His diaries are from 1880 - 1896.

Then there are the works of Rousseau Jean Jacques:


The Social Contract (1762)

Discourse on the Origin of Inequality (1755)

Reveries of the Solitary Walker (1782)

and of course, one can't forget (well, at least, I can't forget)

Notes on Nursing: What It Is, and What It Is Not by Florence Nightingale (1858)

"List Challenges" has a list for https://www.listchallenges.com/150-no... that includes many non-fiction books written prior to 1950.

Kimberly wrote: ""List Challenges" has a list for https://www.listchallenges.com/150-no... that includes many non-fiction books written prior to 1950."

I just looked at that list. A lot of them are newer, such as Angela's Ashes (1996) and Alexander Hamilton (2004). A least a couple are actually historical fiction such as The Jungle and Magic Mountain. I checked how many of these I've read and it was 25 which they say puts me in the top quarter.

Kimberly wrote: "Hospital Sketches by Louisa May Alcott (1863)"

I might read this one. I'm a retired nurse.

Marilyn wrote: "Anytime June or after for Storms of Steel works for me."

Let's say July. I'll send you a friend request. Also, if we write reviews of it, those would be readable in the Catching Up group bookshelves.

George P. wrote: "Marilyn wrote: "Anytime June or after for Storms of Steel works for me."

Let's say July. I'll send you a friend request. Also, if we write reviews of it, those would be readable in the Catching Up..."

It's on the calendar for July.

George loving you challenge!

Kimberly suggested Hospital Sketches by Louisa May Alcott which is so good--both her writing and her nursing--that I am sad Alcott became too sick to continue her service.

Also Walt Whitman wrote his own Civil War nurse memiors: Memoranda during the War.

Decisive Moments in History by Stefan Zweig Excellent example of narrative history.

The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge by David McCullough Also narrative history.

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond

We've also got a Listopia page titled "Classic Nonfiction" where readers can add older nonfiction books they've liked and vote on the others they've read. There are only 21 books on it right now, so help build it up!
If you're not familiar with the Lists, go under "Browse" headings and then "Lists" to access them. Or you can just click this link https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

The next classic nonfiction I have on my to-read list is Hiroshima by John Hersey. Probably wont get to that for a while.

Cynda wrote: "Decisive Moments in History by Stefan Zweig Excellent example of narrative history.

The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge ..."

Guns, Germs and Steel was published in the 90s so isn't yet really old enough for my idea of classic age.

Cynda wrote: "George loving you challenge!

Kimberly suggested Hospital Sketches by Louisa May Alcott which is so good--both her writing and her nursing--that I am sad Alcott became too..."

I checked out Hospital Sketches which interested me as a nurse; I found my library had it available as an ebook and decided to read it. I am glad I did. I added it to the listopia just now. It's only about 80 pages long.
I would have liked more description of how procedures were done but she seemed to want to keep it more accessible to general readers. It's a shame she died rather young.

I like this idea. I am going to mention some non-fiction books I have read. I do not read many non-fiction books, but these are a few that I enjoyed.

1. Walden by Henry David Thoreau
2. Hospital Sketches is based upon Louisa May Alcott Diary Entries which we read in an 8th Grade ELA textbook. I really liked both
3. Hiroshima by John Hersey


Published after 1950
1. 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann
2. The Genius of China: 3000 Years of Science, Discovery and Invention byRobert K.G. Temple
3. The Conquest of Assyria: Excavations in an Antique Land by Mogens Trolle Larsen
4. History of Art by H.W. Janson

I've finished The Dark Child by Camara Laye which was written in 1954, so just a few years after the 1950 cutoff. I highly recommend it even though I've read that he probably had an uncredited ghost writer help write it.
Lynn I plan to read Hiroshima in the coming months.

Long time since the last one- I'm now reading Christ Stopped at Eboli: The Story of a Year by Carlo Levi 1945 (Italy, translated from Italian). I plan to read Hiroshima very soon.

George, this thread was archived, but I am moving it back to the personal challenges folder for you. Glad you are continuing to read such interesting books!